South Coast
The South Coast region of California is beautiful. Its
climate is warmer, its beaches are gorgeous, and it’s loaded with fun tourist
destinations.
The South Coast region encompasses the counties of Los
Angeles, Riverside, Orange, and San Diego. The only notable wine area in the
South Coast region is the Temecula Valley.
Central Coast
The central coast area includes 3 counties.
The first is Santa Barbara County which contains the
cities of Santa Barbara, Lompoc, Santa Ynez, Los Olivos, Solvang, Buelton, and
Santa Maria.
This is the area that the movie Sideways was filmed
in. And yes, the region did suffer shortages of Pinot Noir in the years
following the release of the film.
These Santa Barbara County areas have flourished in
recent years and you will find them a delight. There are dozens of smaller
wineries to choose from where you may well speak with the winemaker him or
herself. You’ll find reasonable or free wine tastings and beautiful
countryside.
Be sure to visit the town of Los Olivos with its
charming town square area. You can taste plenty of wines right there if you’d
rather not drive.
The second county is San Luis Obispo which contains
the cities of San Luis Opisbo and Paso Robles.
Paso Robles wine growth and reputation has grown
steadily over that past years and is gaining more prominence all the time. Much
like Santa Barbara County, you’ll find a humbleness about this area that is
very inviting.
The third county in the Central Coast region is Monterey
County. Monterey County has significantly fewer wineries that the two mentioned
above (about 45), though they are no less desirable.
Monterey County is unique because of its location
between warmer and cooler climates. However, unless this is your destination
(they do have a fabulous aquarium and a breathtaking coastline), you may want
to save Monterey for a future trip.
Many of the Central Coast wineries charge less for
their tastings than the North Coast wineries. You will also find some of their
wines to be more reasonably priced.
North Coast
The north coast of California may be the most popular
wine tasting area in the state. As shown on the California wine country map,
the north coast includes the well-known counties of Napa, Sonoma, Lake, Marin
and Mendocino.
Sonoma and Napa were among the first wine growing
regions in the state.
Here you will find what many consider the “finest”
wines in the state, but you will also find the most crowds the the highest
prices to go with them. Even so, it’s a premier area and is not to missed.
All 4 counties contain several smaller sub-regions not
shown on the Calfornia wine country map, each a bit different from the others.
Sierra Foothills
The Sierra Foothills is one of the oldest wine growing
regions in the state, but one of the least traveled. The counties in the Sierra
Foothills are Amador, El Dorado and Calaveras. Here you are surrounded by
beauty nestled at the base of the Sierra Mountain Range.
Wine has been grown in the Sierra Foothills since the
Gold Rush. Many of its Zinfandels come from old vines. Its colder climates and
rocky soils make
it perhaps a more daunting wine growing region. Nevertheless, some excellent wines come out of this area.
If you’re staying in Sacramento or are on your way to
Lake Tahoe, it’s the perfect stop.
Central Valley
The least traveled wine region in California may be
its Central Valley area. Spread out in the valley between the Sierras and the
Northern California Coastal area are close to 100 wineries.
Many of the wineries are in and around the city of Lodi,
the small green area at the tip of the Central valley on the California wine
country map.
Central Valley has also an additional American
Viticultural Area, the The Solano County Green Valley AVA located in Solano
County, southeast of the Napa Valley AVA, Green Valley is about 1.6 km long and
6.4 km long. The valley is close to San Pablo Bay and thus has a maritime
climate. Most of the vineyards are planted on the valley floor and benefit from
moist, cooling winds in the summer afternoons.
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